Twitter has become so immensely popular that world leaders on Twitter account for 75% of them globally. It’s no wonder Twitter is on its way to IPO.

In 2011 the world came to truly understand the revolutionary impact of social media. As a result of the movement in Middle East, images were distributed through Twitter, Facebook and other mainstream social media networks, which served as a catalyst to an already disturbed situation. There was no denying the unrest; so much so that social scientists and media experts credited social media for rallying people together around a cause: peace.

Learning from the situation in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world, politicians have begun using social media to connect with people, Twitter in particular. The Digital Policy Council found in a recent survey that world leaders on Twitter have jumped up from 20% in 2010 to 75% in 2012. Some of them use a personal handle, like Barack Obama, while other use official handles to Tweet. The survey also revealed the popularity (by follower) for each world leader present on Twitter. Barack Obama, for example, is the most popular among world leaders on Twitter with 25 million followers. He is also among the top 10 most followed people on Twitter. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is the second most popular world leader on Twitter, with roughly 3 million followers.

Twitter launched back in 2006 and became an instant hit with its unique interface and ease of use. Since it is a no brainer to use the network, everyone welcomed it (all you have to do, after all, is type a 140 character update, whenever and wherever you feel like it). As of 2011, the service had over 300 million users across the world. Today, users can share photos, videos, and anything else that remains within 140 characters in length.

With so many world leaders on Twitter, the growth of social media is undeniable. This would explain why Twitter is on its way to IPO, having recently renamed the titles of its key executives for that very reason. And not just that, Twitter has more excitement on the horizon, with its new TV rating system to be launched, a combined venture of Twitter and Nielson. More on Twitter to follow…